Heart of Membership
Pure in Heart
Do you really mean it? Are you hiding something from me? Why did you do that good thing? Once we find success being merciful, we must guard our hearts. Pride sneaks up and steals our vision of what God is doing through us and others. Daily Prayer: Lord, keep my heart pure as I serve and love others.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
Monday, October 6
Read Psalm 51. King David wrote this psalm after being exposed for committing adultery and murder. But David is a “man after God’s own heart!” What do you think turned David toward these sins? What does David ask God to do for him to return to the right path?
Tuesday, October 7
Read Deuteronomy 8. Why did God have his people wander in the desert 40 years? Does following a command of God always mean your heart is pure? Describe a time when you did what you were told but your heart wasn’t in it.
Wednesday, October 8
Read Mark 7:1-30. When the Pharisees spoke God’s commands, they spoke truth! What ruined that truth for them and for others? What temptations do you think the Pharisees succumbed to? Think of the event you described yesterday. How did your lack of heart affect others?
Thursday, October 9
Read Luke 6:39-49. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” What may be on the heart of someone who wants to help a person, but suffers even worse from the same problem? Same question, now that “someone” is you.
Friday, October 10
Read 1 Thessalonians 2. Paul did not go to Thessalonica to give them “words of flattery.” Paul gave them himself. If our hearts are not pure, do we give ourselves to people? Think of a time when you gave yourself to someone, and a time when you could have but didn’t.
Saturday, October 11
Read Romans 12. Read this passage and ask yourself how much of it can happen with an impure heart – with a heart that is focused on self instead of others. How do we discern the will of God? Is that anything like “…for they shall see God?”
Bethel Lutheran Church, St. Paul, MN – bethelstpaul.com